The Delhi government led by the Aam Aadmi Party has come out with an ambitious plan to reduce the alarmingly high levels of pollution in the national capital—allowing odd or even numbered cars to ply on alternate days in Delhi, starting 1 January.

Delhi government on Sunday said odd-numbered cars will be allowed to ply on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while even-numbered vehicles will run on the other days—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Read more on the plan and its impact here.

The formula is not new, and it has been experimented with in Buenos Aires, Caracas, Athens, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Bogota, La Paz, San Jose, and Beijing in different forms and with varying results. (Read here)

But though the dire need to curb pollution in Delhi is agreed upon unanimously, the odd-even plan has been a topic of intense debate (read more here), with some hailing it as good initiative, while others arguing that it might actually persuade people with more means to purchase yet another car, which will defeat the purpose of the plan.